Understanding
by Darkness of Death
Summary: I'm no good at summarries, so please read read it. RR
1. My only way out

darkness of death: There is a time in my life where I will write angst. This is one of those stories.  
  
Kouichi: yeah, in this story it's Kouichi/Ari again but we won't tell who's being angst.  
  
Ari: Yup. Not till you read the first chappie!  
  
darkness of death: So just cut to the and let the story begin!  
  
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Chapter 1: My only way out Ari's POV  
  
It was my only way out. I'm such an awful person. I hurt all around me. Not physically, but emotionally. I pushed them all away. They were trying to help me in my time of need. But getting help is a sign of weakness so I'll do this on my own. You are probably wondering how I got this way huh? How could a girl get like this? Is it for attention? Probably is. That's what they all say. But they don't have a DAMN CLUE! Well it started like this.  
  
~Flashback~  
  
"Arivitarian?" My teacher asked me. (A/N: I forgot to mention, the gang is 15 except for Tomoki who's 14 and Junpei who's 16.)  
  
"Huh?" I replied, snapping out of my trance.  
  
"Would you like to share to the class what you were thinking about?"  
  
"Probably about some prank. She's crying for help. We all know it." Someone said meanly. Actually I was thinking about some things going on at home. Tousan is beating me, threatening to kill me if I tell. He called me things like dirty slut or two-bit-bitch. I can't blame him for calling me that. He's always drunk when he does. Last night..he even...slit my arms in an attempt to kill me. But what if I really am these things he calls me?  
  
"Yeah. I can see it now: She does it for attention." Another said. The class roared with laughter. Times like these make me want my friends to go to the same school as me. I can manage most of the time but now.. I felt my eyes water up and another person said,  
  
"Look! She's crying. Aww poor girl, needs more attention?" They don't realize that they are the one's who make me like this? I couldn't take it any longer and I ran out.  
  
~End flashback~  
  
It's been like that ever since. But today, I ran out of the class and the school too. I took the train to Shibua and when I got off, I looked for the local hangout my friends hang out in. By now, school is over and they should be here any minute.  
  
"Takuya, I can't believe you did that!" A voice laughed. I gasped. My friends and sisters too! But I can't hang around them; I'll hurt them too. Even Kouichi, who's been my friend since forever. I ran away from them all before anyone noticed me and hid behind a tree. Being this close to them is good enough for me. And who would want to hang around me? Sad, lonely, emotionless, and a dirty slut? I watched them and sniffled softly. Though someone heard it.  
  
"Hey, you guys, I think I heard someone behind that tree." A voice that I recognized as Kouichi's said. They went there and as I was to run away, he caught my wrist.  
  
"Oh no." I said quietly before they recognized me.  
  
"Ari? We missed you so much!" My sister Animya said. I put on the 'I'm not Ari act' on and said,  
  
"But I'm not this Ari you're talking about. I don't know any of you."  
  
"Don't lie to us. We know it's you. The Ari we know twiddles her thumbs when she lies and that's what you're doing." My other sister Ami said. Tomoki noticed my tear-stained face and asked,  
  
"What's wrong?" At that I ran away from the people whom I wanted to be with the most and most of all the people whom are all I have left.  
  
**************************************************************************** **************************************************************************** **************************************************************************** ******************** darkness of death: From now on, I won't be here to host in this fic. No one will. Sorry if I've disappointed any of you, but I'm just too lazy to do anything. 


	2. What's up with her?

Chapter 2: What's up with her? Kouichi's POV  
  
"That was weird. What would make Ari so sad and run off like that? I know it's obvious she didn't wanna talk about it, but she could just tell us instead of running away." Izumi said.  
  
"That's because none of us would understand. I think that she's afraid of talking to us because she's scared too. I mean, from all the letters I got from her, they were always happy but the writing was all wobbly as if she couldn't write and there were blotches that looked like tear marks. I think that whatever goes on at her school and at home is the cause of all this. Why would she be here if something was wrong there" I said. Animya nodded in agreement.  
  
"Then let's see what's wrong. Shibua isn't that big and she can't have gone far. Needless to say, we found her crying her eyes out at the nearest bridge.  
  
"Ari, you can't run from us forever." Junpei called.  
  
"Yes I can and it'll stay that way!" She yelled back and again ran for her life. Away from us. It was raining that day and she didn't see the car coming to hit her. When she did see it, instead of running away, she stopped faced it and smiled. There was a loud screech and she was thrown onto the floor, blood pouring out of her side quickly. Kouji called an ambulance and when they came, we all climbed in too. In the hospital, all Ari said was not to let her tousan come and get her.  
  
"I wonder why." Takuya said.  
  
"I can't tell you." She replied. "Now please, I need to be alone. Don't come back: ever." She asked pleadingly as we all left knowing each and every one of us would come to visit.  
  
"So one of us can come on a certain time of the day. Ami and Animya can come on Sundays, Kouji can come on Mondays, I can come on Tuesdays, Izumi can come on Wednesday, Tomoki can come on Thursdays, Junpei can come on Fridays, and Kouichi can come on Saturdays." Takuya planned out.  
  
"Alright, but I highly doubt that this will work." Kouji said.  
  
"Yeah. None offense to Ari, still being my best friend, but she is a stubborn bitch a lot of the time. The next day was a Sunday, so Ari's sisters came to visit.  
  
"She never talked to us at all! It was like talking to a statue of Ari!" Ami said. When Kouji went the next day, he got the same result.  
  
"She didn't talk, she didn't eat, and she didn't even blink." He mused. Takuya did no better.  
  
"Nothing. She just sat there. I don't know what got her this way, but it must have been more than one person to do this." He said. Izumi went after him and sadly it was the same thing. She just shook her head slowly. Tomoki went and when he came back, all he said was,  
  
"She looked like a zombie. I asked the doctors about her condition and they said that she hadn't touched her food since she got there." Junpei tried to offer her some chocolate, but as he said,  
  
"She just pushed my hand away."  
  
"At least she made some movements besides getting up and going to sleep. There's a start." Animya said. And now, I had to go. 


	3. When he came

Chapter 3: When he came Ari's POV  
  
As Kouichi walked into the room, he saw how pale and gaunt I had gotten.  
  
"Hi Ari." He said as if there was nothing wrong. 'That won't work because the psychologists already tried that' I thought.  
  
"What's happened to you?" 'Something you could never comphrend' though I had noticed that his voice became sadder and more serious  
  
"Why are you like this?" 'You will never know.'  
  
"Please talk to me!" He pleaded. Just great. Now I've hurt him too. Kouichi gave up and I sniffled softly right after he left. Now I knew what to do. Late at night, I went to get my clothes and things, like my heavy book bag.  
  
"The heavier the better." I murmured. I changed my clothes, and took the hospital ones with me to make them thing that I went to the bathroom. I had healed completely from the accident, but they kept me here for psychology. I crept out of the hospital unnoticed and walked to the nearest bridge. My heavy book bag would help me to sink to the bottom, and on top of that, I couldn't swim. I stood on the railing but a voice from behind stopped me.  
  
"Stop it Ari!" I looked back and saw Kouichi.  
  
"Why should I?" I shouted back.  
  
"Because we all love you!" He shouted too.  
  
"But I hurt everyone. You all don't deserve this pain but I'm giving it to you so I'm going to fall. None of you would miss me, and I'm sure my funeral would be a meaningless one if anyone cared to give me one." I retorted as I jumped down. The water was ice cold in pain, but I deserved it. I caused Tousan so much trouble to take care of me, so there's a weight lifted off his chest.  
  
The people in school don't care, there's another weight lifted for them.  
  
As for my real friends, I hurt them so why should they care? As for my sisters, they fit in the same category as my friends.  
  
Oh and my best friend. Kouichi, he tries to keep me alive, but I'm sure he doesn't care either. I probably hurt him the most and jumped down right in front of him. My life flashed before my eyes as everything became numb and fuzzier than normal. Suddenly, I felt the book bag being taken off my shoulders and through the water, I saw the one emotion in those eyes as blue as this water itself: Love. The one emotion I never felt since I moved. A hand gripped mine and pulled me to shore.  
  
"You never let me finish what I was going to say. They all love you a lot, and I do too." That voice whispered in my ear. It was such a caring and loving tone. I recognized Kouichi and saw his still fuzzy outline. I suddenly felt a new emotion right in my heart. I hadn't felt this for so many years as I managed to say,  
  
"I love you too." And I pulled him into a soft kiss. It lasted a while and when we parted, we shivered from the cold air blowing our way.  
  
"C'mon, lets get somewhere warm and tell me what happened, please?" He asked.  
  
"Alright." And as we walked, the story was told, and his understanding of what happened grew stronger. Mine did too.  
  
THE END 


End file.
